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Group to ‘park’ trailer with nativity scene in front of building

December 6, 2012

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. (AP) — A Moose lodge plans to park a trailer loaded with a nativity scene in front of a municipal building in a western Pennsylvania town that had been threatened with a lawsuit over its creche display in front of the building.

Officials in Ellwood City did away with their display — a 50-year tradition — after the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened to sue. A local attorney paid for a new creche and set it up outside a former church he owns.

But local Moose members plan to park their trailer-borne nativity in front of the borough building by 5 p.m. Thursday and take donations for Mooseheart, an Illinois school run by the fraternal organization.

Borough officials said they won’t disrupt the Moose display if it doesn’t violate parking or other laws.